Even if you don’t consider Jon Jones the greatest light heavyweight of all time, you must admit he’s getting close.
Since winning the championship from Mauricio Rua in 2011, Jones has defended the championship seven times. He smashed the previous record of five, held by Tito Ortiz, and has become the UFC’s all-time light heavyweight wins leader.
The next record Jones is pursuing belongs to Anderson Silva, the man many consider to be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time. Silva won the UFC middleweight championship from Rich Franklin on October 14, 2006. Over the next seven years, Silva would defend the title 10 times before losing it to Chris Weidman in July 2013.
Jones needs three more title defenses to tie Silva’s record. He needs four to claim the record as his own. Today, we’ll take a look at his potential path to tying and then breaking Silva’s record. If he does so, he will likely be unanimously considered the greatest fighter of all time.
High stakes, indeed. Let’s take a look at his potential opponents and assign a percentage to a Jones win over each of them.